Beal City vs. Vermontville Maple Valley – – MHSAA Baseball State Semifinal – – The Bleacher Denizen – – June 14, 2024 – – by Chuck Krafft

This morning, the Bleacher Denizen is at Michigan State University’s McLane Stadium, where the Beal City Aggies will play the Vermontville Maple Valley Lions to determine who will appear in Saturday’s final game.

Maple Valley enters this game with a 29-7 record. Per the Second Half Report on the MHSAA Website, the Lions are led by these players. Callan Hoefler is hitting .371 with 11 doubles and 36 stolen bases. Callan Hoefler also pitches; on the mound, he has a 10-2 won/lost record with a 1.96 ERA and has struck out 87 batters in 60 2/3 innings. Ayden Wilkes is hitting .346 and has stolen 37 bases.

Jakeb McDonald is hitting .308 and has 30 RBIs. He also pitches; he has an 8-2 record to go with a 1.42 ERA. He has struck out 87 batters in 64 innings. Camden Carpenter is batting .385 with 42 RBI and 19 stolen bases.

Beal City is the defending state champion and enters the game with a 32-6 record. They are rated the #1 Baseball Team in Division 4. Their top hitters include Jake Gauthier, who is batting .424 and Josh Wilson, who is hitting .455 with 10 doubles and 53 RBI. Josh Wilson also pitches; he has a 7-3 record and a 2.66 ERA. Cayden Smith is batting .446 with 30 stolen bases. He also pitches; he has a 9-0 record with a 0.63 ERA. He has struck out 104 batters in 56 2/3 innings.

Jack Fussman is batting .388 with 37 RBI and 24 stolen bases. Lane Gross is batting .410 with 20 stolen bases. Owen McKenny is hitting .374 with 30 RBI and 29 stolen bases. Blake Walcutt brings a .342 average into this game.

Here are the starting lineups. Beal City will be the home team and Maple Valley will bat first.

MAPLE VALLEY

Ayden Wilkes cf

Callan Hoefler c

Jakeb McDonald p

Camden Carpenter 1b

TEagan McDonald ss

Noah Mosser 3b

Andrew Shepard lf

Carson Milbourn rf

Connor Joseph 2b

BEAL CITY

Cayden Smith ss

Owen McKinney 1b

Jack Fussman cf

Josh Wilson p

Jake Gauthier c

Lane Gross 3b

Bennett Gilde rf

Blake Walcutt lf

Cuyler Smith 2b

Let’s take a look at the events of this semifinal game through the somewhat alert eyes of an aging Bleacher Denizen whose baseball career never really took off in the days of yore when he attempted to play. He was showing some promise as a pitcher until the baseball powers that be demanded he stop using his shoulder cannon to deliver his pitches. Alas, the Bleacher Denizen’s ERA skyrocketed after that and he eventually was no longer allowed to pitch.

In the top of the first inning, Beal City Pitcher Josh Wilson retired the three Maple Valley hitters on a grounder to the shortstop, a fly to center field and a strikeout.

Cayden Smith led off the bottom of the first inning for Beal City with a double over the right fielder’s head. He scored all the way from second base on a wild pitch. Owen McKenny walked. Jack Fussman tripled down the right field line to drive in Owen McKenny. Josh Wilson doubled to deep center field to send Jack Fussman home.

Maple Valley Pitcher Jakeb McDonald retired the next two Beal City hitters on a popup to first base and a fly to left field. Jamisen Lathem entered the game as a courtesy runner for Josh Wilson. The Aggies made their third out of the inning on a popup to the pitcher.

Beal City scored three runs in the bottom of the first inning to take a 3-0 lead.

Aggie Pitcher Josh Wilson struck out the Lion leadoff batter in the top of the second inning. Teegan McDonald lined a single to center field. Josh Wilson retired the next two Lion hitters on a strikeout and a fly to left field to end the inning.

Lion Pitcher Jakeb McDonald on a liner to center field. Cuyler Smith was safe at first base on an error. Cayden Smith’s popup fell to the ground, so Lion Catcher Callen Hoefler had to throw him out at first base as Cuyler Smith went to second base. Jakeb McDonald picked the runner off second base to end the inning.

Aggie Pitcher Josh Wilson struck out the first two Lion hitters in the top of the third inning. Ayden Wilkes walked. Aggie Left Fielder Blake Walcott made an amazing running, diving catch of a foul fly to left field to get the third Lion out.

Owen McKenny was safe on an error to lead off the bottom of the third inning for Beal City. Lion Pitcher Jakeb McDonald snagged a hot line drive back to the mound by Josh Wilson and threw to first base to double the runner off.

After three full innings, Beal City held a 3-0 lead.

Josh Wilson struck out the Maple Valley leadoff batter in the top of the fourth inning. Camden Carpenter was safe at second base on an error. Teegan McDonald doubled to left field to drive Camden Carpenter home. Josh Wilson struck out the next Lion hitter. Andrew Shepard was hit by a pitch. Maple Valley made its third out on a bouncer to second base.

Maple Valley scored one run in the top of the fourth inning to trim the Beal City lead to 3-1.

Jake Gauthier rifled a double down the left field line to lead off the bottom of the fourth inning for the Aggies. Jake Gauthier advanced to third base on a bunt single by Lane Gross. Lane Gross advanced to second base and Jake Gauthier held at third base on a bunt to the pitcher by Bennett Gilde.

Blake Walcott singled to right field to drive in Jake Gauthier. Maple Valley Right Fielder made a fine throw home to get the runner trying to score from second. Lion Pitcher Jakeb McDonald retired the next Aggie hitter on a grounder to the shortstop to end the inning.

Beal City scored one run in the bottom of the fourth inning to boost its lead to 4-1.

Aggie Right Fielder Bennett Gilde made an excellent diving catch of a drive by leadoff batter Connor Joseph to record the first Lion out of the bottom of the fifth inning. Ayden Wilkes beat out an infield single and went to second base when Callan Hoefler walked. Josh Wilson struck out the next Lion hitter. Cuyler Smith made a great leaping grab of a line drive by Camden Carpenter and probably prevented a run from scoring to record the third Maple Valley out of the inning.

Maple Valley Pitcher Jakeb McDonald retired the Beal City leadoff batter in the bottom of the fifth inning on a grounder to the shortstop. Owen McKenny walked and went to second base on a wild pitch. Jack Fussman walked; ball four was a wild pitch. Owen McKenny went to third base and Jack Fussman made it all the way to second base on his walk. Owen McKenny scored and Jack Fussman advanced to third base on Josh Wilson’s sacrifice fly to deep center field. Jakeb McDonald retired the next Aggie hitter on a popup to the shortstop to end the inning.

Beal City scored one run in the bottom of the fifth inning to extend its lead to 5-1.

Josh Wilson retired the three Maple Valley hitters in the top of the sixth inning on a fly to left field, a fly to center field and a one-hopper to third base.

Callan Hoefler took over on the mound for Maple Valley. Jakeb McDonald moved to first base and Camden Carpenter moved to catcher.

Lion Pitcher Callan Hoefler retired the Aggie leadoff batter in the bottom of the sixth inning on a fly to right field. Bennett Gilde singled down the left field line. Callan Hoefler retired pinch hitter Garrison Zuker on a fly to center field and got the third Aggie out on a popup to second base.

With six innings in the books, Beal City had a 5-1 lead.

Josh Wilson retired the three Maple Valley hitters on a popup to first base, a one-hopper to second base and another popup to first base.

Beal City won the game 5-1 and will play the winner of the Marine City Cardinal Mooney/Norway game in Saturday’s state final.

Teegan McDonald had a double, a single and one RBI for Maple Valley. Ayden Wilkes had a single.

Jakeb McDonald pitched five innings for Maple Valley. Callan Hoefler pitched on inning.

Jack Fussman had a triple and one RBI for Beal City. Josh Wilson had a double and two RBI. Cayden Smith and Jake Gauthier each had a double. Blake Walcutt had a single and one RBI. Lane Gross and Bennett Gilde each had a single.

I look forward to covering Saturday’s final game!! Congratulations to the Aggies!